An evaluation of subnational climate change response in Lagos state, Nigeria and Kwazulu Natal province, South Africa

Abstract

The study examined the impact of climate change in Lagos State, Nigeria and Kwazulu Natal Province, South Africa. It evaluated the effectiveness of climate change policies and programmes of Lagos State and Kwazulu Natal Provincial governments in responding to climate change. The study determined challenges faced by intergovernmental relations, finance, and environmental institutions and the impact of these on climate change response of Lagos State and Kwazulu Natal Province and identified ways of improving existing climate change response programs and strategies of Lagos State and Kwazulu Natal Province. This was to advance knowledge on contributions of sub-national entities (Lagos state and Kwazulu-Natal) in Africa towards combating the climate change debacle. The study utilised a qualitative research design that was sourced through in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) with purposively selected participants from Lagos and Kwazulu-natal respectively. A total of 22 participants were interviewed and 70 participants went through Focus Group Discussions in both Lagos and Kwazulu-natal. Data were analysed using thematic content analysis. Results showed that both Lagos State and Kwazulu-natal are vulnerable to climate change as they both suffer from sea level rise or heat waves, erosion, displacement, flooding, and other associated risks of extreme climate variability and that climate change policies and programmes of both Lagos and Kwazulu-natal are not effective. Results also showed that while the response to climate change in Lagos State, suffers from strained intergovernmental relations, poor funding, and weak environmental institutions, response to climate change in Kwazulu-Natal, is drastically affected by weak environmental institutions and that both Lagos State and Kwazulu Natal should devise creative climate finance, improved intergovernmental relations, and strengthen environmental institutions to be proactive to their climate change duties. The study concluded that subnational entities such as Lagos State and Kwazulu Natal climate change are important to the national climate ambitions of Nigeria and South Africa respectively. The study recommended among other things that Nigeria and South Africa should address intergovernmental relations issues that encumber the climate change response of Lagos and Kwazulu Natal respectively while both subnational governments should devise creative means of raising local climate finance and also engaging more in paradiplomatic networking to enhance their climate finance and technical expertise. They should also revamp existing institutions and build new ones to ensure that climate change response is effective in both mitigation adaptation.